Basketball GAME THREAD: Penn State MBB @ Northwestern
- Thread starter bdgan
- Start date
Mixed bag on Mahaffey. Great athleticism. Huge rebound at the end. But he missed some bunnies inside and missed a FT late. But he's a big part of our future.
Well we did just effin close! BIG WIN, so happy for them!!
Boat load of turnovers, poor shooting, horrible foul shooting, yet still won against a good team.
That was a judgment call but Wynter OOB was easy to see on replay. I don't get it.
He’s one of those players that does at least one bad thing for every good thing…he did have all his good things come when we needed it tonight.
Just think if we held on vs Rutgers.
If nothing else the Maryland game is worth watching now.
Yep, they lost to O$U tonight. Get them while they are down.
Lost turnovers 13-5 and missed 6 FTs. Tough to win that way but tonight it worked.
Probably but not definitely. If we lose to MD but win 2 in tournament we finish with 20 wins.
If we were going to win one of the two, tonight was the more important one...another road win helps, but even more important is another Quad 1 win.
Can't see why Henn was in this game either. Turnovers, not a great passer and gets his shots inside blocked. NW was bigger inside and Henn doesn't have the quickness to get an edge of any kind. At least Njie can get a block or two.
Mahaffey seems to get his role now. Defense, rebound and an easy bucket if it presents itself. Would be great if he puts on some muscle for next season and his offense surely will improve as the coaches work with him.
Gritty win that we needed. Some other decent around the bubble over the past few days too.
Glad that we were able to pull out such a big game on the road like that...we're experienced in terms of "years", but not in terms of winning big games like this (we've only got two guys that have played in the NCAA tourney, and they were role players at that).
Biggest game in a long time now coming up on Sunday.
Glad that we were able to pull out such a big game on the road like that...we're experienced in terms of "years", but not in terms of winning big games like this (we've only got two guys that have played in the NCAA tourney, and they were role players at that).
Biggest game in a long time now coming up on Sunday.
For once we doubled up another teams FT attempts (on the road no less) and we missed 6. I thought that woukd be our undoing.
While Funks pass to Wynter was not textbook, I'm glad he did just heave one up. He was pressured yet had the presence of mind to find the open man. He missed a wide open look at the end of regulation....just as he did at Michigan.
After Nebraska I was all for giving Cam's mnutes to Cleary or maybe even Johnson/ Brown. I've thought often about writing my mea culpa. Dude has stepped it up since then. Good work #11
Reg season wins more important than BTT wins. Want to beat MD then obviously win 1st rd BTT game but if we lose first BTT after beating MD we still have a shot at dancing. I don't think we do have as good a shot if we lose to MD then win one in the BTT. In fact I think we are most likely out if we lose to MD then only win our first rd BTT game.
As far as Henn vs Mahaffey, I don't necessarily see them as a like for like (we're playing Mahaffey some at the 5 when the opponent also goes small, but NW playing someone like Nicholson longer tonight would have prevented it).
As far as Pickett...he didn't score tonight, but those 11 assists were huge!
As far as Pickett...he didn't score tonight, but those 11 assists were huge!
We'd probably need one more at that point...if we're the 11, beating Minnesota on Wednesday would do nothing. So we'd need to make it to Saturday.
My thoughts now are that a win on Sunday, coupled with the 10 seed and a loss on Thursday would put us right on the cut line (something like 55% in/45% out depending on what happens elsewhere).
Lose Sunday, and we'll need to make it to Saturday in Chicago to start feeling pretty good again.
We really needed to go 2-1 in the last 3 reg season games to then not have to have big run in the BTT to dance. So far we are 1-1 the unconventional way but good for us as the NW win on the road is more impressive than a Rutgers win at home.
So now that leaves the last reg season game at home vs MD. IF we can get it then we do not need a miraculous BTT run into the semis. Prob just one win but maybe none as you suggest. So beating MD would just be HUGE for us!
I've got it as a pick 'em on Sunday, Pomeroy has us as a 1 point favorite, Bart has us as a 2 point favorite...should be about as close to a coin flip as it gets.
Surprisingly MIA post game as always after ANY big PSU win…. where have you gone:
PSUgo823
LandoCommando
Shocking (not) …. a Big W is always the best troll repellant.
PSUgo823
LandoCommando
Shocking (not) …. a Big W is always the best troll repellant.
Which one of our ugly wins are you referring to?Disturbing thing is that so many of our wins (and losses) are ugly.
They mostly have to be. We don't have the talent or size to overwhelm big 10 teams right now.
I don't know.. we've beaten Illinois twice, Michigan, Indiana, and Nebraska by double digits.. our biggest issue was not being able to win the close tough games where one or two play make the difference. The team is evolving with different contributors each night. If Cam keeps playing the way he is this could be one of the surprise teams of the tournament if we get in.. Guard play and the 3 point shot rule the tournament. Maryland has one Big Ten road win. Let's not let them get two.
I don't know about being the surprise team of the tournament. PSU let games slip away from weaker teams like Wisconsin but that's not who we're likely to play.
I do agree that it's important for Wynter to provide another option. Early on it was Pickett in the paint dishing out to Lundy, Funk, and Dread. It was difficult for opponents to double team Pickett and also cover 3 good perimeter shooters. Once Dread went cold things got a lot easier for opponents. Wynter sure picked up the slack last night.
My biggest concern is how teams have figured out how to defend PSU. Lots of pressure and double teaming Pickett 25 feet from the basket. It's taking PSU 15+ seconds to get into their offense forcing them to take a lot of bad shots. Our players don't back door their defenders for easy layups. They hang at the perimeter. It's disappointing that a player as big and strong as Lundy struggles to score at the rim.
